Chingri Kalia

We  moved. After slowly settling down in our new apartment, P demanded “it is time to celebrate and for any Bong, celebration means food and if there is fish  all the better. Time to hit my fishmonger. The guy had some of the gorgeous shrimps, though I have to admit if only they were slightly bigger in size. But they were fresh and juicy so it was decided Ajj barite chingri hobey (We will have shrimps tonight). The only thing, I am tired of cooking Malaikari (a favourite prawn prep amongst Bongs) and I wanted something different, yet a Bengali dish. I could do Palak chingri but no, would not work, I could call ma back except she lives on the other corner of the world, so that would not work. Internet to the rescue, Google along and that is when Preetanjali’s Blog Preeoccupied  came to the rescue.  Fantastic food blog to start with She had this gorgeous Chingri maacher Kalia, posted and it was like Mum’s cooking. So there you are. I got the recipe from her. The Proportion was double because I used 15 Pieces of Medium to large Shrimps, otherwise the recipe is still the same , to the T.

Recipe at Chingri Kalia  Thank you Preetanjali

My Proportions:

15 medium to large shrimps/ prawns
1 large potato peeled and quartered
1 large red onion very finely chopped
2 large juicy tomato coarsely chopped
1.5 tablespoon green chili paste
1.5 tablespoon ginger paste
1.5 tablespoon garlic paste
3 teaspoons red chili powder
2 + 2.5 teaspoons turmeric powder
2-3 green cardamoms
1 small cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
2-3 cloves
3-4 tablespoons ghee
Pinch of garam masala powder
Sugar and Salt to taste.

There are 2 ingredients that I did not use with is on Preetanjali’s recipe, one is Black cardamom as I do not like the smell and secondly coriander leaves, I ran out of them. The procedure for the recipe is the same as hers.

I will leave you with some images…

 

 

 

Celebration in true Bong style, happy tummy and happy Hubby…..

 

 

Fish Curry Mom style… (Maa er Macher Jhol)

Maacher jhol or fish curry and Bengali are synonymous.. Bengali families are large or they use to be and the food though you would have a variety of spread, it is simple and fish curry is a staple.. The fish goes very well across the generations, men, older men, younger men, children, grandmas, aunties, every body they all love it…

While I was growing up, my mum, would often cook this curry and she had a name for it, babar jhol (fish curry for dad), It is a curry she learnt from her mother and she use to make it for my Grandfather..

As the story goes, the curry was specially prepared for my granddad and my mum and aunt were only allowed to eat on special occasion.

The best thing about this curry is that it has simple ingredients and it is super aromatic…

I have been in love with this curry for as long as I can remember…

Now there are a million ways and combinations in which you can make the curry..

The curry tastes best when prepared with sweet water fish but here, I would much rather use fresh fillets of sea fish, the ones that have neutral tastes, like swai or tilapia… but try it with fresh sweet water fish if you can..

Fish Curry; Mum style

• Swai fillets- 7-8
• termeric- 3 table spoon +1 tablespoon to marinade
• Chilly Powder-3 table spoon
• salt- as per taste
• Green chillies -5-6 (slit)
• Paanch Phoron – 1.5 teaspoon
• cauliflower florets- 15-20
• Mustard oil- Be generous

How:

Take a bowl and marinade the fish fillets, in turmeric (1 tabs), chilly powder, 1 tablespoon and pinch of salt and leave it for 15 mins.. Meanwhile take a kadhai/wok and gently fry the cauliflower florets, take care not to burn them..  Now in a separate wok or kadhai, heat 5-6 tbs of mustard oil fry the fillets to golden colour and put it aside. ..  Add some more oil (be generous) Temper the panch poron (bengali 5 spices) as soon as it starts emitting the flavours, add the turmeric, red chilly powder, green chillies say about 3, saute for a while, add 3 cups of water,salt, now add the cauliflower florets and let the curry simmer for a while and finally, add the fish fillets and leave it on high heat for about4- 5 mins .. Garnish with green chillies, serve with hot steaming rice…

 

Mum’s Special

Any self respecting Bengali is fond of fish, and I being one am no different… So fish rules the diet chart.. But once you have lived out side of Bengal, things aren’t that easy.. You may not be able to find the kind of fish you want.. Thankfully, my city does not have that problem…

Last week when mum went shopping I insisted, i wanted fish and fish made in the traditional Bengali way and she obliged.. So she came up with Macher Paturi ( as in Fish steamed in banana leaf with special spices and I insisted that she had to make it.. I simply love the way she makes it… The aroma of the spices, coupled with the slow cooking and steaming…. I would give anything to eat that.. So finally, I got my wish..

Macher Paturi, is a traditional bengali dish, though there are many variations and they are cooked all over coastal India, with different blends of spices, the one cooked in Bengal is with mustard paste, and green chillies and garlic…

So here goes  Macher Paturi ( Fish steamed in Plantain Leaf)

• Bone less river fish ( Betki, Hilsa, Singhara) or Cod is a good fish as well Cut into thick firm steak size (8 pieces)
• Garlic chopped (1 teaspoon full)
• Ginger chopped (1 teaspoon full)
• Green Chilly (6-7 pieces)
• Black mustard seeds (1 table spoon)
• White Mustard seeds (1 table spoon)
• Turmeric powder (half a teaspoon)
• Red chilly powder (i teaspoon)
• Salt to taste
• Mustard Oil ( plus extra to garnish)- 6-7 table spoon
• Plantain leaf cut to 12×12 inches

Now take all the ingredients except the fish and the plantain leaf and the extra mustard oil, put in the blender and blend all the spices together till they come together in a fine paste… take the mustard oil and brush it over the plantain leaves.. Now place the fish on a plate and marinade them with the spice paste. Then place the fish on the plantain leaf and then tie them up with a thread to hold the edges of the leaf.. Then place them in the steamer and let it slow cook on the gas for about 20-25 mins.. (you could use a moktu.. which is used to steam momos or the bamboo steamers in a wok filled with water (double boiler style ) or the electric steamers… By then the fish should be ready and you can serve it with hot steaming rice and jack-fruit pickle….

This is my mum’s recipe and such a satisfying one… totally love it…….

P.S. Mum made them….